It was Cole's first trip to the dentist today. This year when I scheduled his annual checkup I just went ahead and scheduled a dental checkup, too. I didn't think about it too much. Until today. The whole way there I was wondering why this was really necessary. I mean, I taught him to brush his teeth. Maybe he doesn't brush them every single day, but I would say that he does a solid 2-4 times a week. And he gets plenty of milk and dairy. Of course, I had 2 cavities in my baby teeth, but I didn't brush as well as Cole does. That kid loves to brush his teeth. Besides, he is just gonna lose these in a couple years.
It was a nice office. They had 2 Xbox 360's in the kids side of the waiting area, an LCD TV, a couple more stations with computer games, and a whole wall of Etch-A-Sketches and other little games like that. A huge aquarium divided that half from the more adult side, which was standard waiting room but uber nice. In the exam area, there were LCD TV screens in the ceiling above each chair. There were 3 PSP's at a table with mod little stools where you could wait. Everything was colourful, but not too colourful, and pristine and fabulous.
Have you ever seen the (now canceled) TV show "The Riches"? It's about a gypsy family that steals the identities and lives of a normal, wealthy couple and they try to fit into wealthy, suburban life. And that's how I felt. Because I certainly didn't belong there.
I watched other moms, dressed in perfect clothes with highlighted hair and acrylic nails, helicopter over their kids. One mom sitting in the waiting area went to hand in their papers and made her daughter walk the ten feet to the desk with her. She asked if the daughter wanted to go sit back down or go play (duh?!) and then proceeded to follow her to the play area and just stand there, in the middle of the area. She wasn't there to talk or play, she just apparently couldn't get more than 3 feet away from her daughter. While watching this, I was sitting in the waiting area, while Cole played on the other side of the aquarium in the play area. There weren't any doors in the play area and I could see the whole room, so unless someone walked in with an invisibility cloak they weren't going to be able to abduct him. (I did walk over there and tell him that he couldn't jump off the chairs, because I am raising a child, not a farm animal.)
When they called Cole back to take his picture, I let him go by himself. When they called him back for the exam, I asked if he wanted me to go. If he had said no, I would have stayed in the waiting room. I tried to be pretty invisible during the exam. The only time I got involved was when, right at the beginning, he didn't want to lie down on the chair. I just turned him around in it and told him to do what he was asked and that was it. I think the next thing I said was "You did great!", after the cleaning was done. Having me fussing over him would have only made him nervous, and considering the amount of orthodontia his is in for later on, I wanted to show him that this was no big deal. He spent the rest of the day telling people that he went to the dentist and it was fun and even asked to go back and have his teeth cleaned again. So I guess it worked.
When we checked out, the receptionist asked me if I wanted to go ahead and schedule Cole an appointment in 6 months. I smiled and said, "No, not right now." I want my kiddo to be healthy and to learn to take good care of his teeth, which is why I taught him to take good care of his teeth. But a dental cleaning every six months? He's just gonna lose these is a couple years anyways. :)
You are a good momma. Patient, cautious but not overly so, and working towards instilling good manners in Cole. Strict on things that are important but relaxed on the little stuff. Balanced. It's pretty impressive. Especially since you have figured this out and manage it all by yourself.
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